COLUMN: A walk through Santa’s home town
While thinking about what my last column before the end of the semester would be about, I thought I would take a nice break from all the biking, hiking, climbing and snowboarding or skiing that we commonly hear about, and to write about something a little different.
Considering the festivities that are picking up for the Christmas season, I’d like to introduce you to Christmas Village down on Historic 25th Street in Ogden.
Ogden is a 45-minute drive south of us Loganites. However, Christmas Village is something worth seeing. Christmas Village started in 1962 and has grown to more than 100 small, lighted cottages sponsored by Ogden businesses.
These cottages are Santa themed and surround Santa’s Castle, which is in the middle of the venue. This is a great opportunity to take that special person out or to entertain the little ones.
I went with a group of friends to the Electric Light Parade, which kicks off the opening ceremony of the Christmas tradition. We squeezed through thousands of people crowded on either side of Washington Boulevard and 25th Street, making our way toward the curb to see all of the twinkling floats, decorated horses, roaring Harley’s and wailing fire trucks that would pass by.
As the parade began, police motorcycles swerved up and down the boulevard, honking and letting their sirens sing to the crowd. This was followed by Ben Lomond High School’s marching band, which drowned the sirens with its prideful school tunes.
More high school kids passed along, trailed by their dance cadets clapping mitten-covered hands and counting off before performing their slightly uncoordinated routine.
Bundled kids all rushed forward when men and women started throwing candy into the crowds, dropping the favored sweets like Twix Bars, Three Musketeers and Dots.
Gold, blue, purple, red and green lighted horse carriages came trotting after the candy throwers — the horses marching the carts from one side of the street to the other so the wide-eyed children could get a good look at their majestic manes.
After 40 minutes of standing in the late November chill, Santa’s float came down the street, pulled by a gold Ford F-150 pickup truck. All of the anticipation from the children exploded in screams, trying to get Santa’s attention through the bitter-cold air.
As soon as the huge float passed, hordes of people made their way to the amphitheater, trying to find a spot where their child could see perfectly.
We strolled over, passing a line of people waiting for a miniature train ride, and stood behind a group of people that all had their kids on their shoulders.
There was a string of introductions, including the mayor of Ogden and the mayor of Christmas Village, before they finally flipped the switch for the Santa wonderland.
Fireworks erupted over our heads as we made our way back to the paths that wove in and out of the different cottages.
As the grand finale of explosions happened over our heads, a performer began to sing — her voice echoing various Christmas songs — as the line for Santa’s lap wove itself through the amphitheater seats.
Women and men with green, pointed shoes and candy-cane-striped hats meandered through the crowds, stopping every so often to visit with a kid who couldn’t possibly believe an elf was talking to them.
Some of the miniature cottages had mechanical elves working in their toy shops with a hammer in one tiny hand and a wooden boat in the other. One had the Grinch behind bars with a jail notice promising a reward if anyone caught him.
There were some with white, miniature Christmas trees in them that I had to stop and admire for at least a minute.
These cottages had white lights, silver and gold tinsel and tiny wrapped presents staged in a make-shift living room, each with perfectly round snickerdoodle cookies, a cold glass of milk and a note addressed to “Dear Santa Clause,” or “Dear Kris Kringle,” followed by cursive scribbles.
I don’t know about everyone else, but I get so excited for the Christmas season and Christmas Village is such a beautiful attraction to go see. It’s open until Jan. 1 and Snow Basin and Powder Mountain are conveniently located just east.
So, you can bomb through fresh powder all day then trail to downtown Ogden, get some delicious hot chocolate and finish the night with the beauty of Santa’s village.
–Allyn Bernkopf is a senior majoring in English with an emphasis in creative writing. She writes, reads and hangs out with Mother Nature. She can be reached at ally.bernkopf@aggiemail.usu.edu.